1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to bowls for holding liquids for irrigation and lavage purposes employed during medical surgical procedures, particularly in hospital operating rooms, and it provides for heating of these liquids while in such bowls, for instance heating and maintaining the liquids substantially at body temperatures.
2. Prior Art and Other Considerations
In general, bowls holding liquids for irrigation and lavage purposes are utilized during most medical surgical procedures. These bowls are commonly located in close proximity of the operating table on a tray to be easily accessible by operating room personnel. When a need arises for irrigation, for instance of bodily tissues, usually syringes of the bulg or cylinder/piston type are used to aspirate liquid from the bowl and to eject the liquid onto the area required to be irrigated. For example, saline, antibiotic, and other irrigation and lavage solutions are generally applied in this manner. Sometimes also, for instance, lap sponges are used to soak up irrigation liquid from the bowl for transfer of the liquid to body areas.
It will be appreciated that the temperature of the irrigation liquids is desired to be substantially the same as the body temperature to avoid patient discomfort and thermal shock to irrigated body tissues. Customary operating room practice in the past has been to pre-warm the liquids to body temperature prior to filling and topping up of the bowls and to rely upon the relatively large heat capacity of such liquids to avoid significant temperature reductions. Whereas such practice may be adequately satisfactory during rather brief surgical procedures, extended surgery results in significant undesirable cooling of the liquids.
Consequently, repeated emptying and refilling of the bowls with appropriately pre-heated liquid has been required in the past. The liquid emptied from bowls is almost invariably considered non-reusable and is therefore wasted. Moreover, even repeated refilling does not assure that liquid temperatures are followed to assure continuous detection of incorrect temperatures. Furthermore, no provision has been made to assure that the temperature of the liquid use in filling and refilling of the bowls is correct. Consequently, temperatures of the irrigation liquids in bowls can be as low as the ambient room temperature or even lower in an extreme situation, when liquid is brought from cooler storage areas and is mistakenly used without preheating (and without monitoring). The temperature of the liquid can be also above body temperature, if temperature monitoring during preheating is absent or inadequate.
It has been recognized in related prior art that fluid for dispensing onto bodily tissues during medical procedures should be heated and maintained at a desired proper temperature. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 1,837,932 issued to Weigle describes medical syringes in which contained fluid is constantly maintained at a desired temperature during continuous use of the syringe.
An example of heating and maintaining fluid in a container at constant body temperature for surgical use is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,180,722 issued to Clewans. Clewans discloses heating of fluid contained in a sterile bottle by an externally disposed infrared heated having automatic temperature control including photoelectric sensing of color of a liquid crystal temperature sensor disposed within the bottle.
An example of a fluid heating device for medical dental spray use is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,041,276, issued to Schwarz et al, wherein a semiconductor is employed as the heating element while also serving to regulate temperature.
Containers holding medical irrigation solutions specifically for filling of irrigation syringes therefrom are, for instance, disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,380,489 (Harautuneian) and 4,175,597 (Peterson).
Despite a long-felt need, appropriately sutiable irrigation liquid heating bowls for medical irrigation and lavage purposes providing constant temperature liquid during surgical procedures and satisfactorily facilitating pick-up or aspiration of the liquid by a variety of surigical instruments have not been available.
Accordingly, an overall feature of the invention is the provision of a warming bowl for irrigation liquid to heat the liquid contained therein by automatic thermostatic control so that appropriate liquid temperatures are attained and maintained in the course of surgical procedures, and to facilitate pick-up or aspiration of irrigation liquid from the warming bowl by means of syringes, sponges, and the like for subsequent irrigation of lavage of bodily tissue.